ARTICLES ABOUT CORRUPTION BY DATE - PAGE 5

They say that justice is blind, and given what we learned during the public corruption trial of Tamarac City Commissioner Patricia Atkins-Grad, it also appears to be deaf, and dare we say it, dumb. OK, no one likes snitches, especially the star witnesses in this case: two gruff and haughty real estate developers who testified that paying off Atkins-Grad and other politicians was the price of doing business in Broward County . And it's unfortunate that to secure their testimony, the Broward State Attorney's office offered Bruce and Shawn Chait a plea bargain that lets them avoid prison time for the bribery charges they faced.

The Dec. 11 acquittal of Tamarac City Commissioner Patricia Atkins-Grad on all eight charges of public corruption speaks volumes of the mindset of the populace of South Florida. I have lived in South Florida for the last 28 years, but for the last 5-plus years I have commuted between here and Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania has had its fair share of public corruption cases that I have watched with interest and there are public officials in that state that were found guilty of placing personal gain over public service on a lot less conclusive evidence than what was presented in the Atkins-Grad trial.

Jurors took just one hour and 15 minutes Tuesday to find suspended Tamarac City Commissioner Patricia "Patte" Atkins-Grad not guilty of all eight public corruption charges against her. Atkins-Grad, 66, collapsed into tears of relief as her attorney Kenneth Malnik hugged her. She hinted that she may return to serve the rest of her elected term, which expires in 2014. Atkins-Grad, a Democrat, admitted she took $6,300 worth of benefits from developers Bruce and Shawn Chait, who paid for her election victory party and helped lease a BMW for her. But her lawyer argued that she was politically naïve, possibly "over her head" in the job she was elected to do - but not corrupt.

Suspended Tamarac City Commissioner Patricia Atkins-Grad was politically naïve and manipulated by two Broward County developers, her defense attorney told jurors Tuesday on the first day of testimony in her trial on public corruption charges. "This is a case about manipulation," defense attorney Kenneth Malnik told jurors in the Broward Circuit Court trial. "She had no idea that she had done anything wrong. " Prosecutors said Atkins-Grad broke the law when she requested and received $6,300 worth of gifts from the businessmen and voted to approve their project.

A panel of six jurors and two alternates was selected Wednesday in the trial of suspended Tamarac City Commissioner Patricia "Patte" Atkins-Grad, who is facing public corruption charges. The trial resumes Tuesday with opening arguments. The trial is expected to take about six days, though that will be spread out over two weeks. Atkins-Grad, who rejected a plea offer from prosecutors earlier this week, has pleaded not guilty to charges that she requested and accepted $6,300 worth of improper gifts from Coral Springs-based developers Bruce and Shawn Chait.

People have called Fitzroy Salesman many things - former Miramar City Commissioner, convicted felon, Prisoner #91179-004 - but no one could call him a quitter. From his cell at the Federal Detention Center in downtown Miami, where he still has more than a year of his prison sentence left to serve, Salesman filed a second appeal of his conviction and punishment on Wednesday. This time, Salesman is acting as his own lawyer in just one more example of how he never gives up. When the FBI arrested three local politicians in an undercover public corruption sting in 2009, the other two quickly pleaded guilty but Salesman fought the allegations in a trial in federal court in Fort Lauderdale.

A Palm Beach County jury on Wednesday returned a verdict of not guilty in the case of a Wellington engineering firm president accused of corruption. Gary Czajkowski, 53, of Chaz Equipment Co., cried and hugged his attorneys and family members after hearing he was acquitted of unlawful compensation or reward for official behavior. But Czajkowski is not in the clear. He's due back in Palm Beach County Circuit Court in February to face other charges connected to a much wider law enforcement investigation called "Operation Dirty Water.

It's been more than three years since the first in a string of Broward County public officials was arrested on public corruption charges of taking improper gifts from father-and-son developers Bruce and Shawn Chait. The Coral Springs-based builders shook the county with sworn testimony that they threw around cash to local politicians, but the duo have not yet had to testify in a public courtroom and be subjected to cross-examination. That is expected to change this week when the case against suspended Tamarac City Commissioner Patricia "Patte" Atkins-Grad is scheduled to go to trial.

Forget blue states and red states. Green was the dominant color of the 2012 election. The U.S. Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United decision and other court rulings, along with permissive laws and regulations at the federal and state levels, allowed powerful special interests and individuals to pour an unprecedented amount of money - often secretly - into this year's races. Of course, these patrons will be expecting a return on their investments. Here are some of this year's campaign finance lowlights: Spending on races for federal office - president, U.S. Senate and U.S. House - was expected to reach a record $6 billion, about $700 million more than in 2008, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.